“She was overseas until recently,” Rico informs me. “Visiting her ailing grandmother in Sicily, I believe.”
“Someone’s done their homework.”
“It’s what you pay me to do.”
I keep my eyes trained on that asshole Dominic and the woman in red while I converse with my trustedconsigliere.
Enrico Bianchi is one in a million, and I’m never letting him retire. The Maltesefamigliawould not run as smoothly without him. I inherited my underboss from my father, and he was a useless piece of shit. The only favor he ever did me was dying two months ago and finally ridding me of the last of my father’s toxic legacy. Rico and I have run the show effortlessly for years, but now we are making way for my younger brother. Zumo was officially sworn in as my underboss the day after the funeral, and Rico and I are committed to showing him the ropes and getting him up to speed as quickly as possible.
But I’m digressing. I don’t want to talk about made men or politics. Not unless we’re discussing the imminent demise of the asshole currently squeezing my goddess’s curvy ass.
A low growl rips from my lips as I glare at him.
A deep chuckle rumbles from Rico’s chest. “Easy, tiger. You look like you’re ready to rip his head from his shoulders.”
“Reading minds now, Bianchi?” I arch a brow and glance at my friend and adviser out of the corner of my eye.
“Whatever you’re planning, don’t do it.”
“Who says I’m planning anything?” I lie as ideas churn through my head.
“Like I said, I know that look. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it.”
“Don Maltese, it’s so lovely to meet you,” a female with a high-pitched voice says as she steps in front of me.
I don’t even give her a passing look, uncaring who she is, what she looks like, or what she wants. She’s not the first woman to approach me tonight, and she most likely won’t be the last. There are not many bachelor dons of my age and caliber knocking about, and they all want to be the one to tie me down. “You’re blocking my view,” I snap, sidestepping her so I keep the lady in red in my sights.
“My father is?—”
I tune her out and walk away, knowing Rico will smooth things over as I stride with purpose toward the object of my affection now that a plan has formed in my mind.
Ignoring outstretched hands and calls of my name, I keep walking with dogged determination as I mentally formalize the finer details.
Valentina’s head snaps to the left, and her gaze ensnares mine as if she heard me silently calling to her.
The world spins on its axis the second our eyes meet, and the room quickly fades out of existence. Sound is instantly muted. All I hear is my heart pounding against my rib cage and my lust-heavy breaths. My mouth turns dry, and my tongue darts out, wetting my hungry lips. A surge of electricity ignites the space between us, flexing and writhing like an uncontrollable bolt of lightning slamming into both of us at full force.Her eyes widen for a fraction in shocked surprise, and I’m thrilled my presence seems to affect her as much as hers does me.
Up close, she is much younger than my first impression. I had put her at late twenties, but I think she’s younger. Her skin has a radiant glowing appearance, and there isn’t a line or a blemish on her almost translucent flesh. She is incredible. Intoxicating. Mesmerizing. Easily the most oxygen-stealing beauty I have ever laid my eyes upon.
I’ve got to have her.
There is no question or hesitation.
She’smine.
Vibrant emerald eyes skim me from head to toe as she drinks me in, and I detect a faint blush crawling up her neck and onto her cheeks. In a flash, that same fake pleasant look appears on her face as if she’s just pulled a mask over her features.
I slam to a halt in front of her, ignoring whatever outraged expression is no doubt on Dominic’s face. Taking her free hand, I lift it to my lips and brush my mouth across her silky skin, inwardly fist-pumping the air when she shivers. “Who are you, and where have you been all my life?” I’m usually smoother than this, but I’m genuinely awestruck in her presence. My words are thick with desire, and I’m staring at her in a way that is blatantly obvious.
I want her, and she knows it.
Her husband knows it too.
I have never been the kind of man to disrespect other made men. Massimo—my best friend and current president of The Commission—and I were no saints in our youth, racking up considerable notches on our bed posts, but the one hard and fast rule we never broke was not messing with anymafiosowives.
Right now, I couldn’t give two shits if she’s married or who she’s married to.
It no longer matters because she belongsto me. With me.
